Measure: Identify and review at least yearly a list of look-alike, sound-alike drugs used in the hospital and take action to prevent errors involving the interchange of these drugs.

Time Period Ending: 3/31/2013

What We Are Doing: With the thousands of different drugs used today, it's not unusual for many of them to look or sound alike. That is why we take many steps to ensure these look-alike, sound-alike drugs are not confused with one another. A list of look-alike, sound-alike drugs is developed by a team of pharmacists, physicians, and other healthcare professionals every year. We then educate staff about them and use multiple precautionary measures, such as different labeling, storage placement, barcode medication administration, and alerts, to help prevent errors.